New Hires, Retirees & Promotions

Adjunct Instructor in Political Science and Policy Studies

Jeff Colbert taught his first class at Elon during the spring semester of 1990 as a part-time instructor and has been an adjunct faculty member for the past 32 years. He says he’ll miss the students and the campus, but most of all his colleagues in the Department of Political Science and Policy Studies.

“From the very beginning, they never treated me as an adjunct — I was a member of the department,” Colbert said. “I was almost always included in decisions and always treated as a valued member of the department.”

An alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and faculty member there as well, Colbert plans to continue teaching there following his retirement from Elon.

Associate Professor of English

Barbara Gordon joined Elon in 1986 because the institution fostered ideals that aligned with her values and she was sold on Elon’s devotion to student learning.

During her time at Elon, Gordon founded the Writing Center on campus, serving twice as the director of the center. Gordon said she greatly appreciates the extent to which Elon encourages faculty to learn and grow through teaching abroad and leading CORE courses. What she will miss most are the students who are poised to learn and “laugh heartily.”

Gordon plans to use her newfound free time following her retirement to “take better care of myself and others, to write essays, to read more widely, to take tennis lessons, to look out at the Mediterranean Sea with hopes of speaking Italian to the person next to me, to wander in the North Carolina mountains, to muse, meditate and wonder.”

Professor of Psychology

Tom Green arrived at Elon during the fall semester of 1990. During his 32 years at Elon, Green has served as chair of the psychology department, founder and adviser of Elon’s chapter of Psi Chi, chair of the Academic Council, and president and vice president of Elon’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).

“I will greatly miss teaching our students the fundamentals of research methods and working with my dedicated colleagues to promote shared governance through our work on Academic Council and Elon’s chapter of the AAUP,” Green said.

After his retirement following the spring semester, Green plans to spend more time with his spouse, Cathy McNeela, whom he met at a fall picnic during his first year at Elon.

Visiting Lecturer in Sociology

Laurin Kier joined Elon in 1997 and says participating in 13 Winter Terms and two full semesters of study abroad courses are the opportunities she will look back on most fondly. But in more than 25 years at Elon, it’s hard for her to narrow down one thing she’ll miss the most. Receiving a full-time position in 1998, Kier served as coordinator and director of Tutorial Services as well as assistant professor of sociology.

Senior Lecturer in Computer Science

Michele Kleckner started teaching at Elon in 1999 after one year at Miami University in Ohio. In 20-plus years at Elon, Kleckner was an instructor, lecturer and senior lecturer in the Department of Computer Science. She also led study abroad trips and served as a Faculty Fellow for Sustainability.

“I will miss the people the most,” she said. “I have really enjoyed working with faculty and staff across the university and have made many friends along the way.”

Senior Lecturer in Mathematics

Teaching at Guilford Technical Community College, Jan Mays was looking for a place that would encourage and support her growth as a math instructor. Mays taught a class at Elon as an adjunct in 2002 and by 2003 had become a full-time lecturer.

“Elon has given me opportunities to grow my teaching and share what I have learned with others,” Mays said.

In 20 years at Elon, Mays served as the first-year statistics coordinator and chair of the Core Curriculum committee in addition to being a senior lecturer. Most recently, Mays was the coordinator for the secondary mathematics licensure program.

“I am passionate about math education and I still keep in touch with many of my students who work in education,” she said.

Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology

Janet MacFall came to Elon in the fall of 1996 after being a member of the faculty at Duke University. She arrived to become the first coordinator of the interdisciplinary environmental studies program at Elon and was tasked with crafting and founding the program within the Department of Biology. In 2008, she led the program’s evolution into Elon’s first interdisciplinary academic department.

She held a variety of roles, including the first chair of the Department of Environmental Studies, the founding director of the Elon University Center for Environmental Studies, the founding adviser for the Sustainability Living Learning Community and the founding coordinator of the Elon Faculty Sustainability Scholars Program.

“I will most miss working with my Elon students, in research and as teaching assistants,” MacFall said. “Their energy, enthusiasm, willingness to jump into rivers for soil samples, drive around North Carolina taking soil samples from beside railroads, doing careful laboratory analysis and being ambassadors for environmental studies has been inspiring.”

William S. Long Professor and Professor of Performing Arts

Cathy McNeela came to Elon from New York City in 1990. “It was August and I was in the Finger Lakes playing Meg in ‘Crimes of the Heart’ and former Dean of Arts and Humanities Clair Myers called me and asked me if I was interested in coming to Elon to create a BFA in music theatre,” McNeela said. “At first, I thought ‘no,’ but every actor at rehearsal that night told me to fly down for the interview, get the job and then hire them!”

Three weeks later, she moved from the Upper West Side to Elon, where she would remain for more than three decades. She served as the William S. Long professor since 2010 and as chair of the Department of Performing Arts. She is the founder of the BFA program in music theatre, the vocal jazz ensemble élan, and the Grand Night and Collage music theatre revues. She’s a recipient of the Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching and an anonymous gift created the Catherine H. McNeela Endowed Scholarship.

“I will miss teaching Performance in Music Theatre and guiding our students toward creating truthful and personal performances,” McNeela said. “I will miss telling stories through music and dance on the McCrary Theatre stage, stories like ‘Ragtime,’ ‘The Phantom of the Opera,’ ‘The Secret Garden,’ ‘Children of Eden,’ ‘Sweeney Todd’ and so many more.”

Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies

Laura Roselle was interested in teaching at a smaller institution that valued undergraduate teaching and would allow her the opportunity to explore diverse scholarly interests when she arrived at Elon in August 1993.

Her career at Elon has seen her move from being an assistant professor to full professor. She was a senior faculty fellow and the director of the Turnage Family Faculty Innovation and Creativity Fund for the Study of Political Communication. She is the author of six books and multiple articles and was recognized in 2017 by the International Studies Association as a Distinguished Scholar.

The Department of Political Science and Policy Studies created the Laura Roselle Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring in her honor and presented her with the award in 2018. Elon presented her with the Distinguished Scholar Award in 2009.

“I will miss students and my colleagues in the Department of Political Science and Policy Studies,” Roselle said.

Associate Professor of Art

Anne Simpkins served the Department of Art in numerous capacities in the nearly 30 years since she came to Elon in 1994, notably leading the painting program her entire career.

She was department chair from 1998 to 2003, simultaneously managing the Elon University Art Collection, and was the department’s exhibition coordinator from 1998 to 2000. She was promoted to associate professor in 2004.

While at Elon, she taught courses in drawing, painting, book arts, design, paper making, printmaking and Italian art and architecture. Simpkins also taught abroad eight times during her career, including a Semester at Sea, and served on the Study Abroad Committee from 2009 to 2012.

“Anne has been a consistent scholar, with many publications, book covers, artist in residencies, juried shows and solo exhibitions throughout her career, and I have no reason to believe that will stop with retirement,” said Michael Fels, professor and chair of the art department. “Anne has had, and continues to have, multiple exhibitions in the region and is very connected to the community art scene. On the national level, Anne has recently exhibited at both Cornell College in Illinois and Graceland College in Iowa.

“Anne is a great professor, a great colleague, and will be sorely missed in and around the department.”